The Distillation

It does mean that psychedelic drug use can be explained in evolutionary terms as a "hack" that enables transcendent states to be reached quickly.

If this story is true, what are its implications? One is that psychedelic drug use is no different, in principle, to practices like chanting, fasting, praying and meditating that religions typically use to bring about altered states of consciousness. Purists may object to drug taking because it lacks the spiritual discipline involved in such procedures. This is true, but one could just as easily argue that buying a car lacks the practical discipline of building an internal combustion engine from scratch. And in any event, there are many religions that use psychoactive substances in their ceremonies.

Leave a Reply.

ECfES

In addition to our extensive lending library located in Eugene/Springfield, we aim to direct our community to the recent news related to ethnobotanicals and other plant-based/inspired derivatives. Please support the work of these journals, publishers, and writers in their attempts to translate the ethnobotanical phenomenon for a worldwide audience.